The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is making a comeback as Bel Air, an hour-per-episode drama series based on Morgan Cooper’s popular fan film. Expanding upon The Fresh Prince’s 30 minute sitcom format, Cooper hopes to provide a deeper look at the emotions and personal and interpersonal conflicts that underpinned the original show.
Cooper will be directing and co-producing Bel-Air, co-writing with Chris Collins (The Man in the High Castle, The Wire) who is also an executive producer and showrunner. The show will be produced by Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Universal Television. The companies are reportedly managing a bidding war between streaming services including Netflix, Peacock, HBO Max, Amazon and Apple, all who are interested in hosting the show.
Al Pereira/Getty Images/Michael Ochs Archive
Given the popularity of The Fresh Prince, Bel-Air seems like an incredibly lucrative investment. Peacock particularly stands out as a potential suitor due to its success rebooting Saved By the Bell and Punky Brewster.
Cooper's original short film, which he released in March 2019 and describes as “a reinterpretation” of The Fresh Prince adapted for “modern-day life in 2019,” now sits at over 7.5 million Youtube views with just two posts alone.
Check out Will Smith’s full reaction to the Bel-Air trailer, which he dubs “brilliant” below.